


Down to the Bone

by The_Night_Owl



Category: Underfell - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, F/M, M/M, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Underfell Grillby, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 02:57:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12949803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Night_Owl/pseuds/The_Night_Owl
Summary: What happens when you throw a volatile young woman into a household of equally volatile monsters? What happens when that young woman also just happens to be a descendant of the powerful mages that sealed those very monsters underground? And what happens when that mage possesses one of the most dangerous souls of all, wrath?(please note this story is also posted on my Quotev account, I am not a copycat)





	1. The mage

"Remind me again why you're sitting there doing fuck all while I'm here working my ass off?" you grumbled, tossing an empty cardboard box in the general direction of your friend and pulling yet another box full of nick-nacks towards yourself. You were hot, you were tired, but mostly you were tired. You'd spent the whole day moving your gear into the new place, hauling everything from the van you'd borrowed from your cousin, who'd also, conveniently been the one to set you up with the place.

    "Need I remind you, that I would be unable to offer my assistance even if I wanted to?" he almost purred, joints crackling softly as he stretched out luxuriously on the crisp white futon rolled out across the floor, his sleek grey fur fluffing upwards along with the whiskers lining his muzzle, trailing all the way up to his eyebrows. He yawned loudly, smacking his lips contentedly before adding as an afterthought "which I don't, just so you know".

     You snorted, huffing a sigh as you inspected the contents of the container. Ah, so that's where your art supplies had gotten too, you'd have to store those when you'd put the shelves up. The room was completely barren, but that gave you a chance to turn it into the perfect living space as far as you were concerned. Only concerning the rest of the house, you'd have to wait and see what the other tenants had to say about it.

    See, unfortunately, houses didn't exactly fall out of the sky. There weren't all that many decent places near enough to where you needed to be, and the ones that were, were solemn cheap. In fact you'd almost given up hope finding a place by the time you'd mentioned it to your cousin, Emily. It had been a flyaway comment, just updating her on how everything was going, you hadn't meant anything by it. You certainly hadn't expected her to be in a position to offer any help- which she had. At least, she'd put you into contact with someone who could, the someone who was renting the building out, for a very reasonable price for its location.

    The only issue had been, you weren't the only person looking for a place to set up in the area, and the guy had already had an offer from someone else. It took a lot of back and forth, but they had been desperate, but so where you, and eventually both parties had agreed to rent the place out together, splitting the cost between the two of you. Hey, it didn't really bother you much, and it meant you had a place to live for cheaper than you could have ever imagined. So you'd been all for it, as long as they stayed out of your way you'd stay out of theirs. Only from what you'd heard from Emily, they where still pretty bitter about the whole ordeal. Guess they had never heard of the term "sharing is caring". Sucks to be them.

     "Hey Drake? Did you see where I put the professional cookery textbooks?" you called, voice croaky from under-use, and you heard him groan unhappily before rolling over to face you. Though you had your back facing to him, you could practically feel the scowl directed towards the back of your neck, and you smirked despite your foul mood. Oh how you savoured the suffering of the fluffy old fart. 

     "Did you check your book bag? That's usually where you'd find them, books, that is" he grumbled, pushing himself up to his knees and draping himself against your back, resting a fuzzy jaw on your shoulder slick with sweat- and grimacing after realising his mistake. He didn't make any effort to move away though, instead just casting a bright golden eye over the scattered items at your knees.

"Don't you sass me, they aren't in there, I just checked" you growled, discretely nudging the bag with a toe to check that it was, in fact, empty. It was. Ha, you knew that. What you didn't know was where you'd put them. Pulling yourself up to your feet, ignoring the yelp from Drake as he rolled backwards into the wooden floor, you made your way over to the door, hopping over the clutter and pushing the knots of chestnut brown hair falling over your eyes. Damn, you really needed a haircut.

     After successfully making it to the hallway, you hopped over the small stack of moving boxes and slowly strolled through the bright, empty corridor. The walls were creamy, a sharp contrast to the dark oak floorboards, and it gave the house an airy and light feel that made you feel strangely empowered and alert. At least for someone who hadn't really slept for the past two days. You appreciated the little details like the stairwell blending into the balcony that sat over the living area. It really opened the place up. Not that it really needed it, but you liked it regardless.

    Stepping downstairs, feeling a giddy excitement as your fingers slid over the railing- the railings of your new home. You barely noticed the smile spreading it's way across your mouth until you felt it drop. The suitcase rolled into the middle of the empty room had broken a wheel, it's hinges warped at an awkward angle. It was too heavy to lift by yourself, and with the wheel busted it was stubbornly rooted to the spot. Eyeing the silvery casing with an irritated glare, you felt the mana in the air crackle with your mood, though instead of allowing it to explode, you directed it under the case. Threading the raw energy around it and coating the case in an eerie red glow as you manipulated its weight with your magic, carefully guiding it upstairs with your hands.

    You knew that you probably shouldn't be wasting your energy on this. It was a wasteful expense of power that you needed to function, and you briefly considered just dropping it and asking your roommates to give you a hand when they got there, only you really wanted the westward room, and you wanted to claim it before they got there. So against your own better judgement, you carried on.

     You set the case down just outside of your door, where Drake had taken to wait for you, and you waved away the disapproving frown on his face. "It was too heavy and I thought I'd save a little time-okay?" you attempted to pacify, turning heel and nodding your head in a gesture to get him to follow. Within a blink of an eye he had slithered into place beside you, tail swishing in a way that showed your friend was agitated.

      "C'mon it's not like I don't have the magic to spare" you reasoned, glowering at him in retort to the glare he was sending your way. You'd think someone so lazy would be happy to just leave you be. Oh no, Drake only had the energy to interfere when it would bother you. What an amazing friend you had. Just lovely. "Whilst you may have a rather large amount of mana, don't think I haven't noticed how little you've been sleeping as of late, you shouldn't be pushing yourself when you're already physically spent" he scolded, resting a patronising hand on your shoulder and raising a triumphant eyebrow. Smarmy ass, just because he was right didn't mean he had to be clever about it. You swatted at his hand and quickened your pace, stomping your feet against the floor harder than necessary. The stinging in your ankles was worth it for the satisfying thumps your feet sent through the floor. 

      Drake always fussed over you just a little too much whenever your health was concerned, and even more so when magic was involved. Normally you wouldn't mind much, but today you were high strung with moving, and you didn't really like the attention as it was. 

     See, your family had a special sort of relationship with magic. Magic itself was just the force of willpower, with certain kinds of people being more adept to using it than others, like with everything. Any well connected mage would know about the existence of souls, and you were fortunate enough to be one of them. Every single person had a soul, only there were often speculated to be many different kinds of souls, often affiliated with the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues of Christianity. With each soul having an affinity unique to its own spectrum, with abilities to affect the world surrounding them in a magical sense depending on how their specific soul type interacted with the world. Though since no human alive had the ability to actually see souls themselves, not much else was known, at least, not by humans. 

     You were one of the few mage's left in the world, having a very strong family line of magic folk throughout the ages. Only, with humans developing so steadily without magic, most humans weren't able to handle the raw energy that magic essentially was anymore, and this was a problem for your family. With the advanced devolution your bodies had suffered over the years, most of your family suffered sickly lives, and scarcely ever managed to live past fifty, and you'd watched your own parents suffer the same fat that was promised to you, and this was because of your family itself.

   

 

   As you descended the stairs, face set in a scowl, you faintly noted you could hear something akin to very muffled, angry shouting, coming from somewhere outside. With every step you took, the noise seemed to be growing louder, until you were almost certain it was coming from right outside your front door. The sound was making your pulse race, so much so that you could feel it hammering in your throat, and you debated going outside and screaming at whoever was making the racket to quiet down. Only you didn't get the chance.

      Just as your foot reached the ground floor, you felt a whoosh of cold air rush past you just seconds after a bang that could have woken the dead. You frozen stood there for a few moments, not really knowing how to react. Another, considerably less loud crash snapped you out of your shock though, and the squeaking sound of whatever was left of the hinges scraping against the ground made you wince, the sound grating against your eardrums.

     "Heh", a deep voice rumbled from the doorway, and you looked up to the source of the noise to find a couple of two, very, very large people looming intimidatingly in the now empty doorway. The sunlight behind them didn't quite reach around to their faces, casting a terrifying shadow across their skulls, spreading menacingly across the floor, as if reaching towards you. 

    In front of you, stood two of the largest looking skeleton monsters you'd ever seen in your life.

    "Knock-knock, Sweetheart"  

     Well. The only skeleton monsters you'd seen in your life. And if those two numbskulls thought they could just rudely barge in here without your consent. Well. They'd be in for one hell of a bad time.


	2. Skeletor, the tyrannical asshole

You didn't like monsters. Not because you had anything in particular against them, no, you just didn't like people. You hated everyone equally. These were just more people to avoid, and you were perfectly happy to do that. And you figured they'd feel the same way, seeing as how they'd been sealed away eons ago by the very same mages that gave you your name. 

     They'd all come crawling out from the woodwork just short of a year ago now, and if that hadn't been a weird enough story as it was, then adding the kid to it just took the cake. According to them, the barrier that had trapped them deep under the mountain, Mt. Ebbot, had been broken thanks to the help of the six human souls that their king had taken from children that had fallen over the years.

   The military had already been on edge as it was, and they'd really been ready to wipe the floor with the lot of them right there and then when that little detail was let loose, only, that was when a small child stepped in. A small, very human child. You hadn't made the effort to remember their name, though you remember hearing about how the brave little ankle-biter had traveled through the entire underground of monsters dead set of murdering them, only to free the whole lot of them once they actually made it. Though of course, you had the inkling that it hadn't been quite as easy as they'd made it out to be.

     Because you had magic too.

    And you had felt the anomaly in the timeline long before the day you'd seen them on the small television screen with a frantic set of news reporters flogging their every move. You'd remembered feeling a very special kind of hatred for that child as soon as you'd spotted them, hiding behind the colossal goat-like monster they called queen regent. How many days had that child spent messing with their magic at the expense of you damn nearly losing your mind? Did they even know exactly what lengths you'd gone to keep reality itself from caving under the pressure their frivolity caused, how much power you were constantly expending just keeping this world alive when it's structure had broken apart years ago? How many times you'd woken, sobbing at the sight of cheerios ironically staring you in the face on your dining table?

     You remembered the very first time that you'd noticed the phenomenon. Just a vague sense of deja vu, something you could wave away with the excuse that maybe you just needed to rest a little more. Perhaps you'd overworked yourself. Only that deja vu repeated itself, over and over, until you could recite the entire days events backwards in Latin. The days had began to melt into one another, and you remember feeling as though you were swimming in the depths of your mind as you fought to tie the threads of reality itself together. Working madly to weave together massive portions of magic to repair the damage that was being done far faster than you could ever hope to repair it, the threat of insanity eating away at your mind and it's ever increasing fragility- you'd been so desperate for something. Something new to happen, something different- change in the monotonous routine that you'd been stuck in for who knows how long.

       Then, all of a sudden, it had. You'd woken from a fitful nights rest, fully expecting the same blaring alarm to start you awake at 6:17AM sharp and for the same bills to be roughly shoved through your letterbox. Only they hadn't- the alarm hadn't even gone off, and by the time you had woken it had been sometime past midnight with the same feeling of having your mana being leeched from your body as the day before.

     You'd spent the next few weeks convinced that the 'rewind' would happen again, that you really had lost the plot and was living in a fantasy your deluded mind had conjured up for you. And then the announcement had been made, monsters had been freed, and you'd stared down at the carefree eyes on the screen of the child that had made your already short life shorter, and given you hell for an immeasurable amount of time.

     Though apparently, your plan to avoid monsters had been knocked down, both figuratively and literally. As the two skeletons in the doorway had kindly decided for you.

     Although both of them were much taller than you ever could hope to be, there was a clear height difference between the two, with one towering over the other. The shorter of the two, although shorter in stature, was built like a tank. With a large, over-sized hoodie with overly fluffy lining at it's hood making him appear much more bulky than he probably would be otherwise, as he was a skeleton after all. You appreciated the shorts though, it made his menacing appearance look slightly comedic, which was a good thing, because you had spotted the sharp set of very large teeth just slightly hidden by the neck of his very comfortable looking turtleneck.

     The  skeleton behind him seemed content to stay silent for the time being, his arms crossed in a displeased fashion as a set of glowing orbs swiveled around the room in his dark eye sockets. He had a thinner frame than his companion, though his chest was proudly puffed up and adorned in a dark armour that was probably just as heavy as him, with a tattered scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. The smaller skeletons toothy grin widened to an almost manic grimace, so much so that you feared if he smiled any harder his face would split in two, and when you allowed your shoulders to droop slightly, you found yourself the receiver of the single brightly flaring red orb of both him and his friend. Both scrutinizing you silently as you carefully circled your way around them.

     "Wow, you two certainly make a dramatic entrance" you quipped, knees bent at a subtle angle should you need to make a swift getaway. You quickly quelled energy within you, shutting off any detectable outlets of power and taking deep, steady breaths. You didn't think monsters would take too kindly to a mage so soon after being released from their unhappy home underground. Though their appearance shocked you a little, after all, from the stories your father had always told you, monsters were supposed to be made of kindness and magic. And these two looked like they fell off the edgy tree and hit every branch on the way down. Then got hit by a truck. 

     Surprisingly, it was the tall guy that answered you. "HUMAN! HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, WITH SUCH FAMILIARITY!" he screeched in a voice that made him sound like he had either a really bad cold or he was the lovechild of Darth Vader and Golem.

Huh, so much for strong and silent.

    "So uh, should I call the cops now, or after I beat your asses for trespassing on my property?" you chirped with the sweetest smile you could muster. "Metaphorically speaking of course" you added, patting your own rear for emphasis and finding much satisfaction at the look of pure offense on the tall skeletons face, which wrinkled with a disgust that would make anyone think you were something nasty he'd stepped in. How did bone even do that?

    Meanwhile, the shorter skeleton had been quiet, for the most part, only breaking into a loud guffaw at your comment on the skeletons having no ass. Which was true in your defense. Only he chose this moment to butt in, for lack of a better term. "Actually, the one trespassing would be you Sugar, this here place is ours, so be a Doll and take a hike would ya?" he sneered, a single red pupil flaring a dangerous red as his magic crackled violently around your skin, dotting gooseflesh over your arms. You could very well feel the oppressive unseen force of the duo's magic in the atmosphere, but you didn't dare press back yourself. Far too much trouble. Instead, you fixed the most welcoming smile you could onto your face and stepped forwards, arm outstretched.

    "Ah, well, it seems I've made a slight error in judgement then, my name is Karina, and it looks like from today onwards I'll be your roommate" you finished breathlessly, voice hoarse from under use, as you met the two skeletons gaze's with a firm stare, stubbornly refusing to retreat. You were almost slightly disappointed that they weren't thugs, since you'd have been all too happy to throw them out face-first for their loutish behavior.

      The pair seemed in no hurry to deflate from their imposing stances, though you did notice their shoulders droop a little, and a hard hand closed tightly around your own. Squeezing so tightly that you felt some of your joints click uncomfortably, muscles jumping under skin. The tall skeleton, who you guessed was named Papyrus, was glowering over his companions shoulder. Though his grip slackened a fraction when you began squeezing in return, smile still plastered on your face as you struggled to crush the bony palm in your hand.

     You offered your hand out to the shorter member too, only to find his hand already extended towards you. Pleasantly surprised, you meant to take it, only registering the curious smirk on his face after you felt the sharp shock fizzle up your arm, nerves tingling with the aftershock as you swiftly withdrew your hand.

   To the end of your days, you would never admit to the undignified yelp that bubbled past your lips. Though you will admit to swearing-- a lot. And you knitted your eyebrows together in an irritated scowl, though you couldn't quite stop a snort from escaping your mouth before you slammed it shut, and the skeleton in front of you howling with unrestrained laughter, seemed to falter a little, as though you also being amused by his taunting made it boring somehow.

   "Heh, name's Sans, the Skeleton, if you didn't already get that" he chuckled, the amusement in his tone sounding somewhat dry, and the smile that spread across his face seemed tight all of a sudden, as though it was painful to force it across his own face. He stepped back just a little too quickly, and directed your gaze to the other skeleton in the room, who stepped forwards and pushed past you with two wide steps and turned a slow circle, eyeing the upstairs balcony with two glowing orbs. It was then you remembered Drake's presence in the house, and you silently willed for him to disappear for the moment, though knowing him, he had already sniffed out the two newcomers long before they'd even stepped foot inside.

   "And this is my bro-" as he went to speak, the taller skeleton shot Sans a dangerous look. "My boss, Papyrus" Sans corrected himself, and you raised your eyebrow in question as the skeleton you now identified as Papyrus smiled to himself in satisfaction. That is, if you could could the slight twitch of his lip-teeth? A smile. "Well uh, Sans, Papyrus, I haven't really done much to the place, just set up in the top room to the left, hope you don't mind, but I guess since the two of you know eachother maybe it's better since you get rooms just across from eacho-" 

     "That won't be necessary, I'll take the west wing" Papyrus interrupted, raising a gloved hand to his bony chin and furrowing his brow bones in concentration, completely oblivious, or otherwise uncaring of the glower you were sending in his direction. Oh, you see where this was going, and you were not sitting there and watching Mr. Skeletor take control over this household-and you. 

      Stepping forwards, much to the apparent surprise of Sans, who was watching you with muted interest, and marched yourself right in front of the skele-man. "Whoahoho there bone boy, first come first serve, I don't wanna be the bitch here but I'm not sleeping across from a guy I don't know" you asserted, hauling up the last suitcase that was much to heavy to you right up the stairs before you could even hear a reply. You arrived in your new room huffing and red-faced, and promptly closed the door in the skeleton- who had followed you's face. Well that could have probably gone better. You'd left a few moving boxes downstairs, but you could retrieve those later. 

    "Well? Are you going to tell me why we have a monster playing guard just outside our door?" Drake's voice bloomed inside of your mind, and you turned to find him leaning against the door, arms folded and a furry claw tapping away at his upper arm. His body was wound up and rigid in spite of his lazy demeanor. He didn't like the new roommates just as much as you didn't, though you suspected that was mostly concerning their being male. He didn't tend to like men being so close to you, it made him antsy, though you couldn't blame him much, his job was to keep you safe after all, and human males didn't always keep a clean track record. That wasn't to say they were all bad eggs, no, just in Drake's eyes, human men where the scum of the earth, no matter how else you tried to convince him otherwise. Not that you had ever went out of your way to try, mind, but the thought was there. 

     "It's fine, our new housemates are just a little bit on the...edgy side, I guess, pay 'em no mind" you mumbled, unzipping the case and rooting through its contents. You had packed your clothing in the cases, mostly simple shirts and jeans with nerdy printings that Drake loved to fawn over. He was a sucker for things 2-D. The technology for the most part fascinated him. Somehow the inner nerd of the old asshole made him just a little more charming than he would be without it.

   "Pay them no mind with the foul stench they're giving the place, ha, you do make me laugh"

Drake had always been particular about a persons scent, like a dog, only less friendly. Though it only ever became a problem should they become mildly hostile. The less Drake took to your scent the quicker he was to turn on you, so you where thankful that yours was one he particularly enjoyed.

   "Yeah well like it or not, we're sharing the house with 'em, so I reckon you'll just have to suck it up for a while" you told him with the sternest voice you could manage. The grumpy creature slunk across the room, curling up into a half circle up on the wide windowsill pointing outwards into the neighborhood. You could still feel the unhappy glances he was sending your way half an hour later, and with a put-on sigh, you grumbled "Oh I'll buy you an air-freshener, now quit sulking".


	3. Butting heads

You had finished packing away the gear in your room just as the clock passed five o'clock, though you had yet to retrieve the moving boxed from the empty living room downstairs. You had felt the tell-tale shifts of mana in the air for a while now though, and you suspected that perhaps the two boneheads had been using their magic to their advantage. Though so far, neither of them had made any further attempts to bother you, so you were happy. You had half expected Papyrus to break down your door, though perhaps you had been relying too much on their appearance to judge their personalities themselves. Not that they seemed to make much of an improvement. You had a pretty short fuse at the best of times, and something about the skeletons bad attitudes just rubbed you the wrong way. 

    Only you would admit the pair were quite intimidating, with the whole aggressive colour scheme they had going on, of red and black with little else in between. That and they were ginormous for being nothing but bone, with papyrus sporting that nasty-looking crack to his eye socket and Sans' Cheshire Cat smile. That also happened to sport a very apparent set of shark like fangs, with one single golden tooth as if he'd been in an all out brawl. You also suspected that the guy had a crack somewhere on the back on his cranium, though you couldn't be sure. You couldn't reach to see the damn thing. And he only reached to Papyrus' chest- and he was at the very least 5'ft. Skeletor must be pushing 7'ft. That's serious height there, he must've drank his milk.

     Drake had tired of his sulking, and had rummaged through your bookshelf to amuse himself, taking to a book you saw involved architecture of some kind. When had you gotten that? Well, at least he seemed pleased. You two had agreed to keep talking to a minimum with the monsters in the house around. You didn't quite want them poking around where they weren't wanted, and with Drake and your ancestry being so closely tied, you couldn't risk having him out in the open. That, and you'd have to keep your own magic under wraps for a while. You could already feel the pressure behind your eyes with the force of keeping it bottled inside, and you knew that if you didn't think of a solution to let it loose without detection soon you'd likely lose all control sooner or later. It was unhealthy to keep so much energy pent up for too long, you couldn't keep it up. You'd make yourself sick, and badly sick too. A concern that seemed to be mirrored by Drake, though it went unspoken, you could still see it every time he looked at you. 

You decided not to comment on it.

  Now you had given it a good long while for the pair to get settled, and hopefully become less grumpy, you deemed it an appropriate time to go and retrieve your stuff. Couldn't leave it sitting down there forever, it was mostly art gear and some professional cooking gear for your college classes, funnily enough in professional cookery. Knives that cost you a fortune, fancy cookie cutters and piping bags with a set of nozzles for every shape under the sun. Heck you'd even gone all out with your many cake tins and molds- you enjoyed practicing at home is all. Hey, maybe you'd make a peace-offering meal for your roomies! Oh, but could they eat? They are skeletons, maybe you'd have to wait and see if they ate anything before you went and did a nice thing.

    Creeping downstairs, you faintly noticed that you could hear what sounded like music coming from-- what should have been an empty living room. Instead, what you found was a very charmingly furnished living space, completed with a leather black suite and plush rug that looked like heaven in floof form. The walls were adorned in beautifully framed photographs of a few different monsters that were scowling sourly at the camera, stiffly posing together for the picture. In a few of them, you even saw a familiar face in the bunch, and felt your mood spiral at the sight. The human child that had been the source of all your grief it seemed was an acquaintance of your new housemates. How lovely. Heh, child or not, if you ever got the chance to meet them you'd force the magical strain of keeping reality itself on their shoulders- see how they enjoyed playing with magic then. 

     Evil fantasies aside, you were standing in a room, although very attractive to the eye, you hadn't been consulted about any of it. That, and your moving boxes that had been stacked in the middle of the room had mysteriously disappeared.

     "Need something?" a low voice grunted, and you must have jumped a solid foot in the air from shock. Startled, you turned to find that the empty suite you had walked into, was not empty at all. Sans was comfortably curled up on one end, looking completely at ease and rigid with anxiety all at once. How he managed it you don't know, but he seemed to have become one with the sofa. Before you allowed yourself to become amused at the sight of Mr. Big Bad skeleton man slumped on the cushions with a pair of bright bright red fuzzy slippers on hit feet, you forced yourself to maintain a hard expression. Though you couldn't quite manage it, instead wearing a wobbly smile and furrowed eyebrows. 

     Shaking it off, you realised you hadn't replied to him at all, and his carefree grin had morphed into an annoyed grimace. "Yes actually, what's the big idea doing this place up without my input?" you complained, wincing at how childish you sounded when you said it out loud. 

   To your surprise, the Sans face instantly radiated concern, and he shifted in his seat, sitting up and resting his feet on the floor. "Oh, really?" he said, tone apologetic and smile as sweet as syrup on pancakes. "Well, uh, I dunno what to say, Boss said you probably wouldn't mind, I thought it looked pretty cool so I just sorta forgot to ask you about it" he reasoned, and you found your stiff posture melt a little, uncrossing your arms which fell to your sides.

   "Well, uh, I'm still not too happy about it" you managed, not really knowing how to reply, having expected a fight. "Of course, I completely understand" the skeleton nodded, and you found yourself chuckling a little "well, uhh, now what?".

    "Hmmm, I might have an idea, to make everyone happy" he beamed, slapping his kneecaps with a loud clicking sound and beckoning you forwards. "Idea?" you asked, feeling a little intrigued with what he had in mind, but mostly relieved that at least one of the bone boys wouldn't be giving you trouble. "Why don't you go play speed bump on the nearest highway?"   he smiled, wiggling his fingers in an arc with the purest looking smile you had ever seen for someone who had basically just told you to go fuck yourself. "Or you could go deep throat a cactus, endless possibilities! Just go away and leave me the fuck alone" he grumbled, slouching back into the sofa crease and swiveling his eyelights to the blaring TV screen, dismissing you entirely.

Ohoho hell to the no.

     Puffing yourself up to full bitch mode, you marched yourself right in front of the screen, fists clenched at your sides and sending your best death glare his way. For a few seconds, the skeleton even looked a little surprised, before his bored expression returned full force. "So this is how you're gonna be then huh? Both of you?" you said in a measured tone, staring down the skeleton with a careful ice in your gaze.

      "Yup" Sans nodded with a satisfying pop, the crease between his eye sockets still present, telling you that even despite his easygoing manner, he was feeling just as on edge as you. That's good, because if he was planning on giving you a hard time for no apparent reason, then you were gonna give it back tenfold. Oh how you appreciated having a vindictive sense of humour, it would serve you well in the future, because you were pissed. And you had just the thing in mind to get back at these two jerks, at least, you had someone who could give you a helping hand and mess with them with no way of it being traced back to you. Maybe Drake wouldn't be sulking all week after all. So, instead of yelling yourself hoarse, you decided to remain calm, ish.

      "Well then, I did have something to say, but I guess I'll shave it for later" you smiled, allowing the cryptic message to really sink in before turning heel- and slamming straight into something big and solid that had not been there a few seconds ago. You even heard your own skull clang against something. Something breathing. Ah, that's where Papyrus had got to, sheesh did this guy always wear armour?

     "Hey there Mr. Friendly" you quipped, feeling a special kind of amusement at the permanent scowl on the skeletons face deepening. "Sans what possessed you to interact with this filth? Now it seems to think all of us will stoop to your pathetic level- at least be useful for once and inform it that I, for one, will never stoop so low as to speak directly to it" Papyrus boasted, a hand on his chest with the other resting on his pelvis bone. "Filthy mutt" he added, though you had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't talking about you. And apparently you weren't the only one who noticed this, as you caught the numb expression that flashed across the other skeletons face. Like he was used to being spoken down to.

     As much as you disliked Sans, you decided after brief consideration that you outright hated Papyrus- he was rude, and acted like some sort of tyrant. His whole act put a bad taste in your mouth to be frank, and for some reason you felt upset by the large skeletons treatment of his friend. Just you getting the brunt of the assholes abuse was enough, but surely he could at least give his pal a break? 

    "Boss says--" the apathetic skeleton began, before Papyrus outright growled, stomping his foot frustratedly and pointing an intrusive finger at his friend. "Don't say it now you halfwit! It ruins the truly almighty jape that I have insulted the human filth with! Must you always put a damper on my brilliance?" he groaned, and you couldn't really decide what was worse- the grown monster having a temper tantrum or the shit coming out of his mouth. 

    "My name is Karina" you interrupted, lips curling into a snarl as the skeleton turned his attention to you. You almost stepped back a few paces at the intimidating leer, that and the towering height difference- but you held your ground, standing perfectly still. "And the way I see it, we're gonna be living together from now on, so I'd suggest you clean up your attitude before I clean it up for you".

"Did you dare just threaten me?"

 "Damn right I did Skeletor, now kick back and shut the fuck up- it'd be a real bitch to get your dust outta my clothes" you snapped, fully enjoying the horrified monster recoiling a fraction for all of two seconds. Until you realised you'd quite literally just threatened to dust the guy- and he was much much bigger than you, and he wasn't happy. "Hey, what was that just now about not talking to me directly?" 

    Using his height to his advantage, he bent down until his forehead was almost butting against your own, eyelights flaring a demonic shade of red and brow-bones furrowed as low as they could go until his eye sockets were barely slits. You felt his magic crackle in the air as a gloved hand gripped the front of your shirt tightly. Pulling you upwards until your toes barely touched the floor. Heh, shit.

    "You watch yourself you little wench, you're just LV fodder" he hissed, before pushing you violently to the ground, and you felt your back collide painfully with the edge of the coffee table with a thump. Feeling the dull throbbing of your soon-to-be bruised muscles as you scrambled to your feet, watching the skeleton stomp away with a shaky breath. LV? what the fuck was that? 

 "That's right you better run you lil bitch" you mumbled sourly, ignoring the snicker of the skeleton still lounging away on the couch before turning your attention to finding your shit and going back to sulk in your room. Good job, day one and you've made a mortal enemy, you did a good thing. Boy you couldn't wait to let Drake loose on that prick.

    "By the way, we threw your junk out into the trash, hope you don't mind"

    "You did what now?"


	4. No regrets--okay maybe a few

"You still shouldn't have started a fight so quickly, that temper of yours will be your downfall" Drake scolded as you fell back onto the soft futon fully clothed. Which were still covered in filth from rescuing your stuff from the trash heap.

   "But they're ruuuude" you wined in protest, rolling onto your front and plopping your face into the pillow. "They started it". 

    Drake sighed, a small pile of discarded books sitting by his side as he sat cross-legged on the floor, back flush against the wall. He didn't say anything more on the matter, instead opting to remain silent, that or he forgot he was speaking to you in the first place. He did that sometimes. Not one of his most charming habits.

    "What happened to monsters being all made up of kindness and super happy love bullshit? These two are major dillweeds! And it's been what? A day? Half?". Silence.

After a moment of consideration, you spoke up. "Hey drake? I need you to do me a big favour"

"No" he said without a moments hesitation, voice monotone. 

"C'mon you'll like this one I promise"

"what makes you think i--"

"You still don't like the bone boys right?"

"...I'm listening"

 "Well i'm just putting it out there that I bought a little too much dye a while ago that may or not be fun to put in someones toothpaste. Also there's a lovely selection of markers and shaving foam about" you smiled absentmindedly, peeking from the cushion just in time to see the mischevious glint flash in Drake's golden eyes.

 "Huh, you don't say?" he murmured, marking his place in the pages and setting his book down neatly. "I only wish that someone, somewhere could use them- preferebly undetected, so that they don't go to waste".

 "Do excuse me for a few hours"

 "You're the best".

 

 

    It was the next morning by the time you heard the almighty shrieking coming from the kitchen, accompannied by hearty guffaws. Then another round of angry high pitched screeching, yelling back and forth, and then the glorious sound of something exploding. Your brain had completely skipped the groggy-wake up part of the morning, and before you had even opened your eyes an evil grin had spread across your face. You felt the familiar weight of someone furry settling on your futon, and you sat up to find a very very smug looking Drake simpering sitting cross-legged at your feet. 

    You heard more unholy howling from downstairs, quickly accompanied by the sounds of crashing furniture. You would pay good money to have cameras down there right now, even just just one, but you didn't. Instead, you gave a nod of approval to your friend, pushing yourself up off the floor as the crashing sounds began halfhazardly stampeding towards your room. By the time you'd rolled up your bedding, the door to your room had been practically knocked off of it's hinges, smacking hard against the wall and bouncing back to smack the seething Papyrus in the face. 

    Boy that was gold. Maybe you'd have to rethink your opinion of the old fart. He was officially your favourite person right now. Did he still like cake? You were making cake. 

     You feigned a yawn, blearily wiping at your gummy eyes as you righted yourself, the flicker of a tail slipping out of sight just as you turned to greet the angry skeleton. And boy. Was he a sight to behold.

    Drake had gone to town on the dye, the once bleached white bones of the skeletons sharp maw now glowed a shade of neon green that would be the envy of eighties kids everywhere. The rest of his cranium had been decorated with intricately drawn, and incredibly detailed day of the dead makeup. Heck, you didn't even know where Drake had gotten the glitter, but you weren't complaining. And the black silk of his bedrobes was slick with what looked like cream, sleeves rolled just so to give you enough of a peek of his forearms that showed the marker. Was. Everywhere. 

   Drake had truly outdone himself. It was beautiful. 

    You had a very, very hard time concealing the glee you felt looking at the fuming monster, catching the snort just in time. Instead, forcing a look of bafflment on your face, with a hint of incredulus concern masking the upturned corners of your mouth. Oh god it hurt to not laugh.

    "Papyrus? Is that you? What the hell happened to your face dude, it's like-- six in the morning what's with the racket?" you grumbled tiredly, eyeing the window just in case you needed to make a quick getaway. 

    The skeleton forced a sharp breath through his...nose? Eyes scrunched up into slits as his fists made a crunching sound as he tightened them, arms shaking with the force of his displeasure. "I thought maybe you could tell me that- filth!"

   "Hey hey whoah hey, no need for name calling douchebiscuit, it's just bad manners" you grinned, staying put when the skeletal hulk stomped up to you. It was really hard to take him seriously looking like that, but you endured. For science.

    "You're testing. My. Patience." he bit out, punctuiating each word with a grind of his jaw, and you grimaced at the smell of his hot breath blowing in your face. Minty fresh with a hint of morning breath. Mmmmm gross.

   "Should I test your bad personality instead? Okay, i'm gonna perscribe you some gedafuckoverit for your narssasisticassitis, I reccommend you stay off the internet 'n' maybe cut down on breathing in my face for a while" 

   You had all of three seconds to feel proud of that before you were being dragged by your hair downstairs.

    For a few seconds you kinda just let it happen, a little shocked that he had went there, before you balked at this dudes gall. Unfortunately, before you could make much protest, the hand that was dangerously close to scalping you sharply brought you down to the floor- along with him. As he had fallen flat on his back upon reaching the bottom floor, you following closely behind.

    The mouthfull of soapy shaving cream had answered your unspoken question as to what the hell had just happened. And you pushed yourself up on your elbows to find the entire floor slick with the stuff. Glistening white like a fluffy winter wonderland. With the open kitchen looking to be in a very similar condition, although the foam looked mutlicoloured. You didn't know how that happened, you didn't have nearly enough dye to make that monsterousity. That you were not cleaning up.

     The wallpaper to the farside of the kitchen had been scorched black, the culprite being in a similar condition. It's metallic shimmer now a crusty, warped shell of itself. Poor mircrowave.

     "This was the work of one of you- so one of you should fess up before i beat the both of you bloody!"

 Sans looked faint. Beads of glistening sweat running down his, surprisingly clean, cranium. He looked as though he'd been dragged right out of his bed, but his tired eyes were alert, and completely oblivious to you. All of his attention was directed towards his friend, the guy looked like he was regarding a very pissed-off lion. "B-boss I-i-i already told you i didn't do nothing I swear!" 

   "Heh, double negative, who taught you how to English?" you snickered, though the humour was dry, the fun was starting to wither.

"Shut it you little shit- thanks to you i'm gonna have my ass handed to me before fucking noon!"

 "Eh relax bone boy, why would he do that when neither of us did it?"

    "Wait, what?" Sans seemed to shrink a little, the fluff of his wrinkly jacket making him look almost comical as his face was reduced to one of irritated questioning. It looked like he had slept in yesterdays clothes, smelled like it too. Papyrus seemed intruiged, if only to see how you were gonna try and bail yourself out of this.

 You were talking out of your ass at this point, but you had quickly realised that, as funny as this was, Papyrus really was gonna whale on the culprite. And as snarky as Sans was, you weren't about to let him take the heat for it, but you weren't about to either. You're such a nice person.

      "I thought I heard someone poking around the house last night-- I thought it was one of you" you lied, searching your brain for inspiration. Sans wasn't buying it, you could tell, his eyes were narrowed in an accusatory glare, but he said nothing.  

   You tactfully ignored the very grumpy fluffball and focused your energy instead on Papyrus. Shoving your pointer finger into his face for dramatic effect. Cuz you'd need it if you were gonna bullshit your and Sans' way outta this. Maybe next time you'd have to be more careful with how you get Drake to execute this kind of tomfuckery. Perhaps a midnight assault with no witnesses hadn't been the smartest idea in hindsight, no witnesses meant that you'd have to rely on these two knuckleheads trusting your alibi. "This guy snores like a damn woodchipper, ya sure you're not the one who did it? Make some kinda excuse to get at me?"  

    Boy, you seemed to have a knack for pushing this guys buttons, as Papyrus actually seemed to whistle like a boiling kettle at your accusation. You could practically see the steam billowing out of his nose cavity. To your astonishment however, before he could open his mouth, Sans butted in. You'd have scarecly thought it possible- with the quivering mess of bones looking ready to vomit. Though he did, albeit very sheepishly.

     "C-c'mon boss, cut me some slack will ya?" he stammered, which seemed strangely out of character for the skele-giant. Meekly flitting his gaze from the floor and Papyrus' eyesockets like a booted dog. Eyeing his master with wary, watchful eyes. You didn't know why it was now you were noticing this, but you coukd have sworn you could see what looked like a choker peeking out from under his turtleneck. Almost like a collar you'd see on a dog, only spikey, and much more uncomfortable-looking. 

    The taller skeleton seemed to write off his friends interruption with the air of wiping something unpleasant from his shoes. Eyes crinckling with something akin to disgust, which didn't really change much as the look was redirected towards you. 

     "As if somebody as great as me would find the need to stoop so low as to create such a pathetic ruse" he spat, sharp maw spreading into a slow smile. Not quite the kind of reaction you'd been hoping for- but you needed to know if that was a good thing or not and now would be a really good time.

    "No, no no no, what I think, little miss human, Is that your filthy little mitts are the ones that sabotaged my toiletries, tarnished my skull with these obscene scrawls-- you that ruined my closet by sewing every single artical of clothing I own togethe--", you cut him off.

     "Wait, he really did that?" you spluttured, mentally high-fiving Drake for that little stroke of genuis. You'd wondered why he was only wearing pyjamas, since he seemed like a morning person and not at all like the kinda guy who'd lounge around in pyjamas. Or at least, liked to follow strict routine.

    "AHA! I KNEW IT! YOU DO KNOW SOMETHING, NOW OUT WITH IT YOU LITTLE HOOLIGAN!"

    You froze, tilting your head to the side a little, to regard the angry monster with the most shameless smile you could muster.

    It was then when you hightailed it outside, elbowing the heavy door as your feet skittered against the slippery floor. Barefoot, you scrambled out into the chilly morning air clad in your floral print camisol and silk short combo to a chorus of very unhappy screeching.


	5. Shopping Trip

    You'd ended up having to clean up most of the mess, as Papyrus had actually taken off sprinting after you down the street. He'd caught you pretty easily, much to your displeasure, and you'd had to set aside your damaged pride in face of keeping your limbs intact. Your feet had already been battered raw against the sharp gravel of the asphalt, though Papyrus had almost been merciful in the act of heaving your over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and marching you right back home. All within two or three large strides of his long legs. 

    After swearing on your life that you hadn't been responsible (which was technically true), and then writing it off as the work of demons haunting the residence (a bald faced lie-- which, Papyrus surprisingly took to heart. Then spent the rest of the day sage cleansing the place whilst barking out orders to nonexistent beings to get the fuck out). You'd actually been very surprised you'd escaped with minor injury to your person. Sans too, as he'd balked at your, very much alive, face this morning during seperate breakfasts. Meaning you'd hidden away in the kitchen whilst the two boneheads lounged in the dining area, as Papyrus had thrown a fit when Sans had made straight for the couch. 

     Unfortunately, a quick cupboard check had revealed that you were dangerously low on supplies- meaning food. And there was little chance you'd risk asking your roommates to spare a bite, at the risk of having one taken out of you. So that meant grocery shopping was in order, so you'd spent the morning building up strength for the journey at hand. Socializing time, great.

    You finished eating your meager breakfast of charred toast and dry cereal fairly quickly, so you quickly padded up to your room to find a weather-appropriate outfit. It was heavily overcast outside, thick droplets of ice cold water falling in a blanket from the sky. Which wasn't really visible anymore, just a grayish sheet of cloud, heavy with too much water vapor. 

     The cold seemed content to match the dreary sky, and you shivered madly as the chill seeped in through your window, spilling into the room like an invisable smog that grasped at you with ghostly fingers.

      You pulled an extra pair of fluffy knee length sock over your feet, and snuggled into the warmest hoodie you owned. A big, black mass of material that practically buried you, as it was at the very least three sizes too big. Which meant that this thing was automatically the comfiest thing you had in your possesion.

    You hadn't seen Drake yet, but you doubted he'd maintain his vanishing act much longer. He was probably just blowing off steam somewhere quiet, he had been talking quite a lot lately. Must have really taken it out of him, being such an old fart all the time. He'd turn up soon. Then you owed him cake. Totally not because you wanted to gorge yourself on sweet stuffs.

    With a sort-of-happy sigh, you shoved your wallet into your pretty much empty bag. The long since neglected pepper-spray you'd shoved in there at the request of Drake making a faint tinkling noise against the zipper.

      You'd been pointedly ignoring the mana gathering inside of the house the past few days, mostly magical signatures of the two monsters just a footstep away. The energy felt...foreign, but that didn't really bug you as much as the constant absorption of it did. You hadn't really considered that you'd be a sponge for their mana as well, and the build up was building up a damn sight faster than it would have naturally-- especially in such a green area. All life needed mana after all, but this was quickly becoming far too much, and you needed an outlet. Soon.

     You've been keeping a tight lock on your magic, much more so than usual. You weren't quite sure how much was too much, for it to become detectable to monsters, it was a steep learning curve. Especially when the only subjects you had available weren't friendly enough to get any information. Humans were simpler, as their magic would often unintentionally react in their stead. Humans were much easier to read than monsters.

    You'd have thought that monsters would be open books, what with their connection to magic being as close as close can get. Only, every monster you'd ever passed by seemed to be locked up like a damn vice. Only ever seeming to project a select few points of information that you couldn't understand. You'd never seen an interface such as the one monsters seemed to use, universally. Humans were a more, well, instinctive kind of...thing. You felt what you needed to know, but monsters apparently used a much more cynical, direct approach. That you had absolutely no clue how to read. What the hell does 'AT' or 'DF' mean? And why did some monsters only show one or the other? Or none at all.

     The only monsters you'd met that showed both turned out to be Papyrus. With Papyrus's at the highest you'd observed so far, yet San's were left obscured. You didn't want to risk digging any deeper.

      Slapping your cold cheeks to bring the life back into you, you straightened yourself out. Back slung over your left shoulder, and practically swimming in the over sized hoodie-coat duo. Which, yes, was the coziest thing. You were practically a walking bed. Or at least a sleeping bag.

     Padding down the steps, you wobbled a little bit at the bottom, gripping the handrail for support. Still a little slippery from the thorough cleansing huh? Or was that...huh, it was salt. Salt borders huh? You suddenly felt a little sorry for Papyrus, maybe he had a thing about spooky things?

     "What are you dithering around there for, whelp?"

   Sympathy gone. He could live with the spooks, hell you had a damn ouija board somewhere right? You were totally okay with cutting your own nose of to spite that irritating, demeaning look on his face. Which didn't even have a nose. That wasn't even relative to anything at the moment but the thought made you feel better. Ha! No-nosed prick.

     "Wouldn't you like to know?" you snorted, swerving around him without a second glance and waving your hand behind you as you shut the door with a graceful bang.

     As satisfying as that was, you forgot your umbrella in there. You looked back at the door. Eh, too much effort, you didn't need it that badly, you had a hood. Plus, if you went back, you'd waste that perfectly well executed dramatic exit! Totally not worth the trade-off. 

     That said, it actually wasn't that bad of a day, really. It was a little on the dreary side, sure, and it was cold as balls, but other than that it was quite pleasant. The air felt fresh in your lungs, and breathing in the crisp scent of rain to come was refreshing after mulling around in your room for the whole day yesterday. Probably should have done more with your time than...well, nothing. Ah well, the walking would do you good, you'd been pretty lethargic over summer break.

     You weren't all that familiar with the area yet, now that you thought about it, realizing you were taking a little longer than expected to get to where you needed to be. You were not lost. Nuh uh, negatory, you knew that it was somewhere over in that general direction. You were just a little bit fuzzy on the getting there part.

     Still, it wasn't entirely unpleasant, this part of town was surprisingly really sweet looking for, well, a town. It wasn't cluttered with trash, generally litter free apart from the occasional wrapper scuttling in the window. Music softly spilling out from prettily decorated cafè windows and chic looking window displays, mannequins propped on glamorous stands with equally magnificent outfits selected to promote individual stores style. 

     There was even a cute little bakery sat just in between an arts and crafts store and what looked to be a building undergoing maintenance. The smell drifting upwind from the daintily little place was divine- heck, your mouth was watering profusely just imagining what it could belong to. Briefly, you considered nipping in, stopping just short of the building and staring at the display, only deciding against it after considering that anything you'd no doubt end up purchasing would end up battered by the time you got home. You resigned to visit it on the way back. 

     You took a step forward, and hesitated. Unless...you ate it in. No! You were on a mission, your entire weeks worth of meals were at stake! You mustn't get sidetracked by--oh god they had fraisiers's!

      Stepping inside, humming happily to yourself at your brilliant decision, you took a moment to appreciate the decor. The interior being very charmingly filled with fluffy pastel pinks, reds and creams. With- strawberry shortcake tables, actual tables in the shape of cakes, with strawberry shaped chairs to match. This place was so sweet it was giving you cavities and you hadn't even eaten anything yet. This place was quickly becoming your favourite patisserie of all time. Inside, the smell of mingling fruits and sweets was even more prominent, and just out of the range of your hearing you could have sworn you could hear K-pop of some kind. Drake would adore this place.

      The sweets-themed furniture didn't stop at the tables. It seemed that every object in the entire building was intent on mimicking something. The napkins were round, and cut into circles to resemble pancakes, the ceiling light shades shaped into glossy looking charlotte cakes, casting a bright glow across everything below. The counter taking the form of a large mille-feuille, the clerk standing at attention behind it dressed in a very lolita-ish uniform that strongly resembled a maid outfit. She seemed content with this.

    "Good morning Miss, what can i do for you?" she greeted warmly, moving her head in ducking motions, similar to nods, very involved nods, with her entire torso. It was odd, but it only added to the appeal of the entire establishment. You barely held back an uncharacteristic squeal. "Ah, hey! Uh, just looking for something sweet, anything good?" you managed, and received a very customer-service-type beam. "Everything of course!".

     Hmm, what to choose, what to choose? Maybe that tart? That looks delicious, oh but that bavorois looks good too. Oh crap she was staring at you, you're taking to long-- pick something quick! You fumbled. "U-uh i'll take the délice aux noix please", oh well, you liked nuts anyway, and it did look lovely. 

   With the practice of a professional, the young girl very smoothly transferred the item of choice onto a delicate set of china, sliding it over to you with a small flourish and gently taking the payment with a small bow of the head. You heard her cashing it in with a flurry of taps as you took a seat closest to the counter, out of view of the street outside.

     You should have probably felt a little bit silly for digging into the small cake the way you did. With a childish glee that was unsuited to a woman your age, but you've never really been all that ladylike, and so had no problem shoving fork-fulls into your face with unrestrained bliss. The earthy flavour of chestnut spreading across your tongue with each mouthful, the creamy texture resulting in you audibly groaning your appreciation. You'd pay good money to get that recipe, maybe you could ask your teacher about it, she specialized in this stuff at some point, that is, if your memory was serving you right. Either way, you'd figure it out some way or another.

      You left with great, great reluctance, wanting nothing more than to buy out the entire store and inhale an unhealthy amount of everything. Still, your inner strength pulled through, and this time you actually succeeded in making it to the local supermarket! Yay, progress. You had this self-control thing in the bag.

 The supermarket wasn't all that busy during this time in the afternoon. With most parents in the neighbour hood busy with after school runs, and everyone else otherwise occupied with work. It was kinda unsettling, all the empty Isles in such a huge building. When you were younger, you'd often pretend that you were all alone in the world, maybe that the dreaded apocalypse had happened in the three seconds between her entering the doors from the crowded outer streets. Now you were older, and the uneasiness had somewhat faded, though in place of that, a serenity had taken its place instead. 

It was relaxing to have the place to yourself. There was no unspoken need to rush yourself. You could tick off your checklist in peace, and most importantly, in your own time. It felt good to be free of the ushering of the masses. 

 That being said, it still took you no time at all to gather your groceries for the week. In fact, you got everything all gathered within your basket in record time.

Well. How about that?

 It was then, out of the corner of your eye. You noticed the flurry of colour. The aroma of something flowery sitting heavily on your nose. Turning towards the source, you felt the thin handle of metal digging into the flesh in the crook of your arm.

 How convenient. It looked like you wouldn't have to stop by that florists after all! Almost automatically, your hand reached out to grab your prize. It seemed luck was on your side, you got there just in time. Seeing as the bundle sitting in the display was the last bunch there.

 Your fingers were just closing around the small bouquet, when a flash of green entered your vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh me oh my-- a mysterious green something is stepping into the picture frame. Now, I wonder who that could be~? Any guesses? Heheh, well, you'll see soon enough.  
> Thank you very much for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed. Perhaps if you enjoyed, why not leave a comment, or even a kudos?  
> Till next time~


	6. Storing Food, Stealthy Skeletons

 There was fire, around your hand. A hand of fire, to be more specific. As in an actual hand made of glowing green fire wrapped right around yours. Which wasn't made of fire. 

 You will admit you flinched pretty hard at that realization. For some reason though, you didn't let go though, you wanted to. You wanted to fricking whip that hand as far away from the burning flame as was humanly possible. But... You didn't, and that fire wasn't hot. Like at all. Curiously, and probably not the politest of choices, you automatically snatched the hand in your hand back. Pulling its owner towards you jerkily, and you heard a whispery sort of yelp as you carefully turned the strange limb in your hands over like you were inspecting a very rare, unknown animal. 

 It wasn't hot, and it wasn't... Solid, but it wasn't not solid either. It was warmer than your own hands, like someone who'd just been holding a hot mug of coffee, and you wondered what would happen if you squeezed it or applied more pressure to it. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, it's owner evidently recovered from their surprise at this moment, and ripped their hand from your grip like you'd burned them. Which was ironic. 

 Shit, you should probably say something now and not just stand there after fondling the strangers hand like a creep. An apology would probably be a good start. 

 "SHITi'm--sorry, s-sorry!" you blurted out in fluctuating volume in the general direction of the stranger. Which was easy considering now you were aware of their presence it was like standing next to a lamp on a gloomy evening. 

 The stranger, who appeared to be a monster girl, now that you were looking at _her_ ans not her hand. She was dressed in a moderate looking school uniform that you'd see in some sort of Japanese anime setting. Or maybe an all girl's school. With a fat knotted silk bow tied around her throat, and similarly fashioned, baggy sleeves. Her face was what gave the fact she was in no way human away, not some sort of weird looking, exquisitely elaborate costume. Her head looked human enough, but in place of hair, her head was engulfed in slightly brighter emerald green flame. The flames themselves were wispy, and looked like a giant version of the candles you'd find burning on mantelpieces. Too neat and tidy looking to resemble a campfire, but the sound she made did resemble that. 

 Her eyes and mouth on the other hand, where nothing but white hot areas of flame amongst the flames of the rest of her face. Still, you could still somewhat tell, they were narrowed, and narrowed quite angrily at you. 

 Shit that's right, you still hadn't said anything had you. You should probably start working on explaining yourself. Or an apology. Yeah, maybe that first. 

 "I was just going for the flowers and your hand really surprised me--I've never seen a fire monster before and I just grabbed you by accident and you have really pretty fire by the way" you ended up blurting out. Louder than you would have intended, had you intended to really say any of that in the first place. You actually managed to make her jump, but she tried to disguise it as rolling her shoulders. 

 You shook your head, blowing out a hiss of hot air as you paced on the spot. Backtracking time. "Ssshit that was offensive wasn't it?" you cringed at yourself, but you didn't give her the time to answer before continuing, "Oh god I'm sorry, you caught me really of guard, I was _so not_ ready for social interaction today holy piss". 

 You probably would have continued on like that. If you hadn't heard the long, drawn out snort that blew out of the fire monstress's... Mouth. Now you were paying attention, her shoulders seemed to be shaking, and the force of which she was holding her composure. Well. It looked to be causing her physical pain. 

 You found yourself smiling at that. Maybe more in relief than otherwise, that was up for debate. "It's, it's fine just--let loose". 

 With your blessing, the3 fire child burst into a chorus of laughter. The sound bubbling from her chest in a high pitched shrill of glee. Still, her voice was crackly, just like real fire--not that she wasn't real fire but, whatever, anyway. 

 Then it all stopped. Like dead, without warning, and her shoulders squared, set again in the perfect military pose. Rod straight, chin up in a delicate display of stern discipline. Her voice however, contrary to her hard-yet-dainty stance, was soft, whisper quiet, but uniquely feathery in a way you hadn't quite expected. "Your hair is pretty too" she said simply, nodding slightly as she spoke. 

 "Heh, thanks" you chuckled, watching with warmer eyes as she shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot. Discreet in her discomfort, but she still didn't seem opposed to it. Just as you were thinking this, the fire child spoke up again. 

 "I'm sorry for startling you, I just wasn't expecting you to be so... Tolerant, of my race that is" she said by way of explanation with an air of disdain, and you nodded wearily as that. A sad glint of understanding in your eye as you stooped to retrieve the discarded bouquet, which was now a little squished on one side. "Most humans I've encountered are usually less so, I suppose it was just alarming to be grabbed for with such poor past experience under my belt" she paused, head drooping towards her waistline. Which was void of just that, instead her skirt was hoisted high over her hips. "In a manner of speaking" she added, a small, coy smile curling her lips at her own little joke.

 It was that moment. You decided. This girl--she was adorable, an adorable tsundere fire child that must be protected at all costs. 

 "It's really a shame we haven't been as welcoming as we should be this day and age" you sighed solemnly, turning the flowers in your hands slowly. The quiet rustling distracting you slightly from the conversation at hand, and your hands stopped moving to combat that. "We're assholes to each other as it is, it just sucks you guys have to be the new minority that everyone gets to fawn over". 

 The fire monster bobbed her head in agreement, "Us monsters are shitty to each other too so I guess we can't exactly judge much on that front--" she started, but you cut in adamantly before she could finish. "No, nuh uh-- you guys had a damn good reason to be grouchy, we don't have any excuse but disgusting, racist bigotry" you declared, maybe a little too hotly. 

 It got quiet real fast, you could see the poor girl trying to think of a way to respond to that and coming up empty. 

 Shit. Think of something to say--fast! 

 "Uhh, so what did you want these for anyway?" you offered, and she gave you a thankful look as she latched onto the new topic. "I actually wanted them for my Daddy's bar, the old ones were wilting and I thought fresh ones would perk up the place". 

 For some reason that surprised you quite a lot. You didn't know monsters had that many rights yet, which was bad considering monsters had been free for a while now. It was good. Progress.  "Oh, your dad owns a bar? That's actually pretty cool" you praised, and you meant it. "It's good you're helping take care of the place. A bar's decor is part of the whole experience, people eat with their eyes just as much". 

 The fire monster made a sound that sounded like a scoff, but it wasn't anything derogatory, if anything it didn't even seem directed at you. "That sounds just like what Daddy would say--that place is his pride and joy--" she said in a way that only a daughter who had long since suffered the fawning of a father wishing for an heir could. "What did you need these for?". 

 "Oh, I just wanted to paint them really" you waved off the explanation with a lazy wave of your hand. Like wafting the idea away as if it were warm air by your face. 

 "Oo~" she gasped, fiery head seeming to burn higher for a second there. "You paint? That's amazing, I do wish I had the patience for it--talent would help too". She did seem genuinely impressed, and she cupped her hand to her cheek in an oddly performed wistful gesture. 

 You snorted. "Nonsense, talent is just another name for hard work--", it was true, and it was a real pet peeve of yours to hear people wish for some natural born talent. With how hard those so called gifted people worked for their skill, it just seemed insulting to want a quick fix like that. "I'm Karina, by the way, really damn rude of me to not introduce myself sooner" you greeted way too late, but you figured it couldn't hurt to do it so long as you'd done it eventually. 

 "Oh it's perfectly fine, slipped my mind too. My name is Fuku, my father's name is Grillby--it's actually what he named the bar too. You should stop by sometime, not many humans stop by so I'm sure daddy would be pleased you stopping by", then her face drooped a bit. "Perhaps most of our clientèle may be a little against it but, daddy is very clear about no violence in the shop" she assured, there was something somewhat businesslike in the way she was advertising her father's bar. You could actually imagine her managing the place alongside a larger, male figured fire monster, the same brilliant green as his daughter. A nice, welcoming temperament, if a little strict. Yeah. Heck yeah you'd check that shit out. You were definitely going, not now, cuz like, your food was defrosting in your basket so you--oh shit you needed to get moving. Your shrimp was gonna go bad before you'd even bought it yet. 

 With an apologetic wave, you quickly pressed the bouquet into the fire monsters hands. She hadn't been expecting it, so she fumbled a little to catch them as they slid down her front. By then, you were already rushing down the isle, shouting back behind you, still waving. "Sorry I really gotta go! See you 'round!" 

 What you didn't see, as you were hastily skidding around the corner. Was Fuku, staring in mild disbelief at the whole situation, as well as the flowers in her arms, after you. Or the small, real smile that tugged at the corners of her lips at the first kind human that young fire elemental had ever encountered. 

________

 

 The thought occurred to you. Prompted by your own words earlier that day, as you were packing away your goodies into the massive fridge-freezer. Labeling everything that belonged to you, as well as writing ' _I licked it so bones off_ '. Just because you didn't exactly trust the two bone heads to lay off your shit otherwise-- that maybe. Just maybe. You'd kinda overreacted to the skeleton pair when you'd first met. 

 Maybe. _Probably_. A bit. 

 In your defense, their whole attitude hadn't exactly been peachy clean either. But maybe you could've been a little more... Tactful in your approach to the two skeletons. Especially thinking from the kind of place they'd come from. Not that you knew much about it mind, but you had heard it hadn't been q very fun place to be. Even without the whole being  prisoner under a mountain thing on top of it. You just,you hadn't liked the whole 'we are gonna run this household and that weaker lifeforms' kind of mindset that the two seemed to have going on. Maybe more Papyrus than Sans, the smaller skeleton was more... Passive aggressive than the other guy. Who just seemed to be a grade A asshat on a good day, even to his buddy. You don't know, it just didn't feel like a good relationship with the two was possible. 

Maybe you'd have to work on that. 

You were just finishing up by the time the front door opened with a loud click. Sans stepping in and slamming the door shut against the chilly air shortly after. You could've sworn that skeletons couldn't feel the cold with Papyrus having chased you throughout the neighborhood that morning clad in nothing but pajamas. But here was a skeleton, shivering bitterly as the chill, grimacing as he huddled in on himself. Then his eyelight thing glanced over towards you, and the frown deepened, but he offered no comment. Just shrugging you off in favor of the coffee maker, passing you by without another look. 

 Deciding it best to leave him to it, you nipped up to your room to grab your sketchbook. Giving the room a once over for Drake, but finding the room empty of the furry fella. Oh well. You could give him his cake later. Whenever he turned up next. 

 Now, the new dilemma of the moment. Stay there, or go back downstairs? It was colder up here, and the light was dim. With the sun being at an odd angle in relation to your window. 

But then again, sans was downstairs, and he didn't seem to be in a very good mood. 

 Then again, were you really gonna risk straining your eyes by hiding from a grumpy skele-butt in your own home? Frick that noise. Nuh uh, you were totally basking in the warm well lit lounge and no amount of glaring could tell you otherwise. 

 Decision made, you snatched at a handful of pencils with a satisfying series of clacks, and proceeded to thump your way downstairs. You almost bumped into Sans on the way, as he was making his way towards the sofa, but seemed to startle at your presence. Bristling in the ever-present fluffy hood of his like they were quills. Then apparently thought better of it, and retreated back to the kitchenette without a word. Glowering at you over the counter as you set yourself up on the floor. Legs slotting comfortably under the coffee table. With no coffee to occupy it, you had the freedom to spread out across it. 

Well. That wasn't so bad. Sure the skeleton was still glaring at you, you could _feel_ him drilling holes into the back of your head with his eyes but nothing was stopping him from coming over and taking up the couch. Nothing but his bad attitude. 

 Without gracing his temper tantrum another thought, you began sketching. Shapes at first, resembling things you'd spotted around town. Slowly forming into intricately drawn delicacies, mostly sweets, plated desserts and the like. Stuff you'd try to make later on, practice for when college started up again. Then, when everything was back into the swing of things, you'd present your successful creations to your instructor, and hope maybe you'd get your dish featured in the restaurant sometime in the term. 

 The sound of pencil tracing against the toothy paper was the only tangible sound in the building. For a while. You'd been drawing for a good thirty minutes before the sound of quiet slurping drew your attention. You didn't look up from your work, but you did notice out of the corner of your eye than Sans had migrated from the kitchen to the armchair at some point. You hadn't even noticed him move, just his slurping on that mug had suddenly alerted you to his presence. 

 He didn't seem to be looking at you. His legs were folded up under him, and he was quite happily sprawled out across the plush surface. But when you allowed your eyes to flicker up to his face, you noticed that even despite his face being turned away from you. His solid chin resting in his palm, those brilliant red eye lights of his were pointed directly at you. 

 It was almost kinda funny. The big bad skeleton, no he wasn't interested in the human. No that was so beneath him. But... 'Spying', no, that was perfectly alright. Such a stealthy skeleton. 

 Now you knew he was staring, that was all you could focus on. Being under the spotlight of such open scrutiny was... Irritating. Very Irritating. You wanted so badly to just turn around and snap at the guy. Ask him to take a picture and get lost--turn on the TV if he was that bored just as long as he didn't look at you for a minute longer. 

 But you didn't. You let him do as he pleased without comment, and the evening went on without further incident.

Damn skeletons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, so finally we meet a polite monster, but how will this meeting affect future events? Will it even have one to begin with? Well, either way, karina seems to like little Fuku. Perhaps they'll meet again?  
>  In other news, Karina seems to be considering making up with the two Skeletons of the household. But will she be able to--will she want to? What do you think, were her reactions to them justified? Or was she really just reacting a little too hotly to the pair?  
>  Thank you for reading, and I do hope you enjoyed doing so. If you did, why not leave a comment, or even a kudos?  
>  Till next time~


	7. The Truth About The Resets

One thing you'd noticed that made living with the skeleton duo. Was that, strangely enough, they weren't often actually around in the house. Out working, maybe, or whatever else. You'd heard them speaking over the phone a few times, and heard bits about some security job they apparently had going on. But then again, Sans, despite his imposing stature and the fact he was a living breathing skeleton that could literally lift a full grown man off his feet (really, you'd seen it with your own eyes. One of the neighbours got a bit too snooty with the guy when he was picking up the mail). He didn't seem like the... 'do something about it' kinda guy. Well. No, that was a lie. He would, he was aggressive, and seemed more than happy to act on his aggression's given a moments notice. 

 Nah, what surprised you, was that he had a job and actually did it. Sure, he was more than happy to go a round with--just about anyone who gave him grief really. But he was really fucking lazy. Like, you'd seen him actually fall asleep standing up with his skull against the wall just because he got tired making coffee. You couldn't imagine him willingly taking up something to do when he could've spent it otherwise napping in his room. Or the couch. Or anywhere that he could fit really. 

 Heck. The only time he wasn't sleeping, was when his brother was around to give him heck for it, and by god did he give him heck for it. For two monsters apparently close enough to buy a house together, they did not get on well. Like chalk and cheese, but with no chalk and cheese, just bones. 

 With Sans as the more, well, docile of the pair, Papyrus definitely picked up the slack in the 'I'm always doing shit and the shit I do make me leagues better than you' department. He liked his routine, and stuck by it religiously. Up before the crack of dawn, ran halfway around the city (though him bragging about his amazing fitness might've just been exaggeration on his part). Then burnin--making breakfast all before the clock hit seven. By which then, he was busy screeching at Sans to get up off his ass, and being an all around annoyance to the entire street. Awake or otherwise. 

 You didn't really know much else about them. You didn't see them beyond the whole morning rush. Preferring to hole up in the safety of your room, only bumping into them accidentally around the house sometimes in between. 

 You'd have to try and change that at some point. Maybe. You hadn't quite worked that whole thing out yet, but one thing was for certain. You couldn't carry on like this, college break would only last so long, and you doubted you'd be able to keep this reclusive lifestyle up with life getting in the way. 

 You'd worked up today at just past noon. Having stayed up just a little too late reading. Really, you were actually waiting for Drake to turn up, but he hadn't, and you'd passed out just before the sun came up. Thankfully, way too out of it to be roused by Papyrus's daily ritual. 

 You greedily inhaled the scent of mixing spices as you pounded the fillet of chicken as flat as you could make it. After it had at least tripled in size, in sacrifice for its height, you happily plopped it into the bowl of spices. Coating it in a thick layer of dark red colored powder, before shaking free the excess, and setting aside. And you moved on to the next fillet. 

 You hadn't really decided what it was you were making. No special recipe, just kinda going with what your gut decided it wanted inside of it and hoping for the best. 

 "Something smells good, what's the occasion, short stack?" a familiar, silky-old-man voice interrupted your silent reverie. Without turning, you snorted in complaint, but shook your head anyway. Kicking out one of the island counters seats for your friend to sit.

 "Took your ass long enough to show up" you berated, putting a little more force into you hammering to make a point. Though you were rewarded with nothing more than a completely unswayed chuckle. 

 "Some people actually have things to do, unlike someone I know. You really must make some friends soon my dear, you'll shrivel up all alone in that room of yours", you snorted in response, Drake folded his arms, unamused. "I'm serious. There is more to life than what is in those doodling books of yours, and food". 

 You moved past him to grab some bowls from the kitchen. Ah, gotta love potatoes, you mashed them up earlier with some carrots. Perfect filling for your roast, all it needed was to be rolled up in bacon now and it'd be complete! 

 "Yeah well at least i wasn't hiding from the big-bad skeletons after being naughty, tut-tut fuzzball". 

"You're the one who put me up to that, Karina dear" 

 You waved a dismissive hand. "Pssh, details, details". 

 Drake hummed, taking a seat and sliding down to sprawl across the the smooth surface of the counter top. "You're unbelievable" he grumbled, but nevertheless he smiled. The hard bone of his muzzle clacking against the table, and shedding fur left behind from his movements, which you scowled at. Stupid furry bastard--you'd just wiped that down. 

 "Well, you didn't miss much, unless you count Papyrus prancing around the street after me in Día de Muertos makeup something to see. You made quite the mess of the place y'know, cleanup was a bitch" you mused, and looked up in time to see Drake wipe the self satisfied smirk from his face. "Am I detecting praise in your voice my lady?" Drake gasped in false joy. "Doth mine ears deceive me?". 

 "Nope" you shook your head, snickering at the wicked smile in those shockingly golden eyes of his. "You're completely right, you did good, couldn't have hoped for better" you praised. Pausing though to turn and ask, "though I did wonder where you got all that shaving cream".

 "A good trickster never reveals his sources" he slyly responded, with an uncharacteristically cheeky wink. That was a treat, it wasn't so often he was so playful with you. It was nice. It made you feel like he was finally opening up to you. 

 The two of you were quiet again for a few minutes. Though you shot the creature a few choice looks as you worked, but he was lost. A contemplative, faraway look in his eyes. That only crumbled away at the shape sound of you shutting the oven door. Eyes watering from the blast of dry heat. 

 "So, how have the two been faring? Have they improved any?" Drake began, but faltered at the look that overcame your features. You couldn't see it. Of course you couldn't, it was your own face. But you knew, it wasn't happy. The frown on your face, you didn't have to see it to know it was there.

 "Not really. They haven't got worse either, we're staying out of each others way, but it's not sustainable. Can't keep this up forever" you admitted, shoulders slumping as you sat heavily beside him. Resting your chin in your hand, leaning heavily on your elbows. Why couldn't you just have Drake as a roomie? Life would be so much simpler. 

 "Plus there's this" you grumbled. Pointing in the general direction of the lounge, which Drake followed. Trying to see what you were aiming at, but failing. With a frustrated grunt, he hopped of his chair, moving through the air like one of those old Chinese dragons depicted in old stories. Floating, not flying. Hanging from the air as he leisurely circled around where your finger was still aiming. 

 "The picture, red frame, with the big cottage and snow" you offered, and heard the scrape of him picking something up. You swiveled your gaze upwards, watching his reaction as he digested the image before him. 

 When shock bloomed across his face, you knew he'd seen it. You kinda wish you hadn't. 

 "The child that freed the--they know it?" he whispered, voice shaking as he studies the picture in his hands. "Yeah",  you confirmed, "looks like they knew each other pretty well too, they're up close and personal with the kid". 

 "Gosh" Drake mumbled as he set the frame gently down. "Who would've thought". 

 "Certainly not me" you huffed under you breath, but Drake didn't seem to hear it anyway. Should you repeat it? Nah, not worth the energy, you didn't care enough to breathe the words again. 

 "Either way, this changes things. Pretty sure they wouldn't take kindly to me giving them grief" you trailed off, this time draping yourself over the arm of the couch. "Even with good reason" you added, and sighed at the feeling of a furry, clawed hand, resting on the crown of your skull. Ah, that felt nice. You kinda wanted to stay like that for a while, maybe if you didn't move, Drake wouldn't either? Your silent wish was denied, as the warmth left your head, and you blew out a huff of air as you lifted your head up. 

 Ah, the child. The savior of monster kind. And the sole responsibility of the whole mess you'd been forced into. 

 The rewinds. Time itself, distorting backwards, like it was folding backwards in on itself. That what it felt like, at least when it happened. How they did it, you didn't know, nor could you explain. But they did. Somehow. 

 The first time it had happened. You written it off as deja vu. Or maybe the second, or third or fourth. You couldn't really tell, just, that at some point. You'd noticed, that you weren't just tired, you hadn't just imagined it. It happened so many times that at some point you couldn't just write it off anymore. 

 Now, that was the easy part. But then, you were aware of it, and that's when everything went to hell. Because you saw it all happen. You saw your day rewind and restart. You saw everyone, spouting the same lines, playing the same routine, as if rewinding a movie. Only it happened without warning, and sometimes it didn't happen at all. It would happen so many times, maybe getting a second longer, and then time would flow on as if nothing had happened. Only to stop again, and restart at a different time, progress all halting. Deleting itself, and then moving on again. 

 You had lost your mind. At some point anyway. Mind scattered across weeks--months worth of different worlds or times or whatever you could call it. Like fragments of your brain were swimming around in a soup of other you's and other worlds and other different times that just. Kept. Repeating. 

Then you got tired of that. 

 After that, you started to learn. You spent so long being insane that you had time to pull those scattered pieces of yourself together again. With Drake's help of course, you lost track of how many times you tried to explain it all to him. How sometimes he'd believe, others he'd agree that you really had lost your mind. Then other times he wouldn't believe, not at first, but eventually, he'd come around. But still. Once you got past that... Obstacle, you faced a new hurdle. 

 Where was this coming from? What started it? Why was it happening? 

 So, you stopped screaming. Crying. Begging for it all to stop. And you began watching. _Really_ watching. Paying attention to when what stopped and started and repeated. And you learned. You learned that nothing, nothing ever rewinded past a certain, specific date. And nothing, ever went past, a certain, specific date. 

Nothing, ever made it past the day monsters were freed. And this was why Drake didn't always believe you. Because you didn't always make it to that, very special day, so you couldn't predict it. You couldn't prove it. Sure, you could try to predict daily life, most would argue, well why didn't you look closer to home? Sure, you could, you tried. But while things, unaltered, played out like a script. Your own actions had a huge impact on that script. Saying something different, or doing something you didn't do the last time, changed the way things played out. They'd become unpredictable again, that was, until you'd ran out or variation, then, it all came back to square one. Back to being in a glitched out movie on loop. With nothing but a timeline of September 21st, to whenever the monsters resurfaced, which alone could take from days to weeks. This unknown period of time from A to B was the only thing that actually remained consistently wily. 

 Now, to anyone else, this whole situation would've seemed hellish. Like a curse or some sort of punishment from god. But to you, you had a little more material at your disposal. To explain, and to understand, that all this, wasn't just awful luck. 

 You, unlike many others in the world, belonged to a very old family of mages, the family went back centuries. Peachy right? Most people would be thrilled, a world with magic at your fingertips. It was the stuff dreams were made of! Or it would have been. At one point maybe, but not for your family. 

 Humans had changed a lot since the ages of magic and monster kind thrived together. The theory was, that monster kind was actually what gave humans their ability to safely exist with the magical blood flowing through their veins. They were magic, so human bodies became accustomed to having that outlet around. Like slowly heating up the water when boiling a frog alive, if it was constant, and didn't fluctuate too fast, it was all good. The frog would die and everyone would be happy. Except the frog. Only, monsters disappeared. Well, not disappeared, now you knew they'd been forced underground, but the fact remained that they'd vanished from human life. For a long time, an entire century, that was a very long time, to be without magic especially. 

 The impact that the constant outlet of magical energy had caused on humanity had been deviating. Mages had almost died out, with no new pure blood around as magic slowly died from humanity. Most people continued their lives with minimal repercussions, even so. The real problem, came for those with magical blood. 

 Humans had quickly evolved to be intolerant to almost all natural forms of magic. Mana, rather than acting as a special gift that humans could cherish, and improve their skills with. Became an illness, no longer an arte, but a hindrance. One that took a heavy toll on the body, that simple couldn't handle the energy that had long since been eradicated from your DNA. Simply put, the human body became unable to handle what had once been a normal bodily function. Like losing body hair and tails and stuff, only this evolution was killing you. Not helping. 

 The fate of which, had caught up to all of your family by the time you hit your teens. And will eventually catch up to you, all the sooner as generations progressed. 

 Yeah. Not so _magical_ once you found that part out. Useful yes, but at a heavy price. Still, it offered you a very valuable asset to figuring the whole mess out. Which, suffice to say, wasn't exactly a cakewalk either. 

 After recruiting, (nagging until he went with it) Drake to help out. You'd both spent days poring over books from the family collection to find a solution. If not an explanation. The Internet, library books, everything you could get your hands on. Until Drake had eventually found something after rechecking something in one of the oldest tombs from you great grandpa's age. The thing was a withered wreck, crumbling pages so delicate that you'd both been afraid to touch it. Nevermind _open_ the thing. Which you had, eventually, and super slowly. You think you actually broke it once, but one of the rewinds saved it. Drake remained oblivious to that mistake, even to this day, because it may or may not have been your fault. Coffee wasn't always helpful. Put it this way, you made a point to never have spillable liquids near any sort of paper ever again. 

 It had acted more as a solution than an explanation. Though it had taken almost as many tries as there were rewinds themselves. 

 The method? To use your own magic to tie the timeless together. 

 So many times, your magic had been painfully ripped apart to turn back on itself. Countless times you'd wound your tiny threads of mana throughout the fabric of time and space, literally, just to keep it together, to keep it going. The rewinds, if the child who'd caused them could have seen the damage they'd done. How fragile they'd made this world, maybe they would have thought twice about doing it again. Probably not. 

 You had pored, so much, so much magic into that weave. So much that you'd probably shaved off a few decades off your already pathetic life span to patch it all together again. So many scars in time, all held together by threads of magic like a constant leeching off your very being. 

Yeah. Not so magical with all that sapping away you life. 

 You felt them try to rewind again. They'd tried before, after emerging from the mountain, and that's when you'd discover who to blame. News agencies, reporters, the monsters themselves. The story of the angel that emptied the mountain. How they'd 'survived the unsurvivable'. How many times they'd almost died. What were the odds that this child had fallen into the underground on September 21st? The odds that they survived the unforgiving underground, as they called it. How they just so happened to just 'know' how to avoid every single killing blow that  ever shot their way? 

 Then, during one of the earlier interviews, it had happened. You'd caught on at this point, you had your suspicious, but you were satisfied. They'd stopped, maybe they just hadn't been able to continue, and you'd just saved the both of you? From that repetition of--life. Everything. Maybe they weren't to blame, maybe it wasn't all their fault? 

 Then, the first monster had been killed. Right on screen. An unfortunate, horrible crime, of hatred. A race crime, on a race that had been through more than its fair share of hardships. But that's not what caused it. It's what triggered it. 

 The child, understandably, had been distraught. Lost it while their friends and family rushed to protect them, and police ran down the shooter who had the audacity to stay right were they stood. Unashamed, smiling as the monsters and human child wept over their loss, glaring the poor family down as he was cuffed and forced into the car. 

 The child, though, had other plans. 

 You felt the tug, the pull to rewind. It failed, so they tried again. And again, and again, shouting and screaming for it 'all to go back, why wasn't it going back?', as the attempts became more and more demanding. Desperation fighting against pure willpower. That was when you knew. They were doing this intentionally. And they wouldn't stop. 

 Not if you left it up to them anyway. You felt for the family. You did, you really did. It was barbaric how they were robbed of a life. But you were being robbed of yours too. Everyone was. Everyone was being trapped in a cage of time that they didn't know had been set. But you did. And you couldn't take it anymore. You just couldn't, even if it meant allowing a life to be lost. You wouldn't. 

 So you _didn't_.

 You fought. You poured everything into your threads, intertwined everything you could to keep it all from unraveling again. You pushed, and pulled, forcing away the wave of willpower trying to disintegrate the bonds holding the timeline together. 

 The screams died down. The child exhausting themselves, while you had a front row seat to their despair. Their power falling short. 

You watched them collapse. Monster family rushing to their aid in a mess of indistinguishable shapes. You eyes blurred to the world in your exhaustion, with Drake muttering frantic words of comfort as your vision faded. The child, who had for so long imprisoned you in your own life, had fallen. In face of your determination. 

 That same child, knew these two asshole monsters. You weren't exactly sure that was a good thing. You just know that if anything bad happened to that kid when you eventually confronted them. Well. You doubted they'd give you the time or chance to explain yourself. 

 "You know. There's something weird about those two, you'd think with them living together they'd get along a bit better" you commented a little suddenly. Drake, who had been busy tugging at his ear, jolted a bit at your sudden speech. Only to fluster after noticing that you'd born witness to him being caught off guard. "What do you mean?" he asked, but you were too deep in thought to tease him now. Nah, that could wait till later, and like a fine wine, his shame would only fester and grow funnier with time. 

 "It's just, they're always bickering, like Papyrus is almost always berating Sans, and he just takes it", you stopped, thinking your words over, then shook your head. "He doesn't fight back--well he does but, he's always the one to wither y'know?". 

 Drake hummed at that, tapping at the hard bone surrounding his eyes as he thought. You continued, taking his silence for yourself to keep talking. 

 "I mean they're butts to me, but at least I can avoid it. Sans and Papyrus just... Don't" you blurted out, exasperated. Throwing your arms up in a gesture of helplessness. 

 "Maybe that's a good thing" Drake suggested. Raising a hand to silence you before you could argue. 

"Think about this, if they're so focused arguing with one another, you'll be able to stay under the radar" he reasoned. But still sighed as he cupped a furry paw to his cheek. "Still, I don't like you being around those two. You're going to get hurt, what's stopping those brutes from assaulting my precious human, hmm? We should move". 

 He nodded. "Yes, we're moving, it's decided".

"Don't go deciding things by yourself we're not leaving--we can't afford to go anywhere anyway" you snorted as you easily shot him down. Laughing at his sulking glare as you moved towards the kitchen. Grabbing for the oven gloves just as the timer started to bleep. The smell of savory spices and roasted pork hit your nose like a wave as you removed your prize from the oven. 

 "Well you still need to take better care of yourself. I can protect you from", his muzzle scrunched in distaste, "those skeletons. But you need to start thinking more of your health" he scolded. Raising a clawed finger to your face accusingly. 

 You waved him off as you ignored him. How could you pay attention to his mothering when there was food, _right there?_ It was food! Food was always more important. 

 "Chiyori Karina!".

 You felt his eyes boring into your back as you salivated over your meal. Go away go away, you said in your head, let me enjoy my meal in peace. "Yeah yeah, that's my name, pick a prize, pick a prize~". 

 "I'm serious! Thanks to those skeletons and their magic you're drawing in more mana than ever! You'll make yourself sick if you don't expel all that energy some time, if it pools up the strain on your body--", you cut him off. "I know that silly furball, but I can't exactly start throwing magic around with those monsters hanging around--mages trapped them underground do you really think they'd take well to _living_ _with_ one?" You argued. Really now. Sometimes that guy really did seem to have cotton between his ears. 

 "Besides" you carried on, effectively shutting the creature up with a finger to his muzzle. "All this energy helps me fill the cracks that brat made! Saves me exhausting myself, huh" you reasoned, still refusing to acknowledge that he was still trying to get a word in edgeways. Silly Drake. Thinking he had any semblance of control here, how cute. 

 "Never you mind, I promise I'll go somewhere to blow off steam when it gets too bad, kay? Simple". 

 Anything that Drake might have been about to say, died on his tongue as the lock to the front door clicked. And he vanished upstairs before Papyrus had even stepped through the threshold to scowl at you. 

 "AND WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU LOOKING AT, PIG?" he growled, turning his nasal cavity up at you as he sauntered into the kitchen. Faltering slightly as he caught sight of your mealtime masterpiece, before resuming his pace to yank open the refrigerator door. 

Ah, home sweet home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's quite the revelation isn't it? Fancy that, living with assholes who personally know the child that literally forced you to die sooner. Since your magic is literally holding the timeline together. What are the chances?  
>  I wonder how things will progress from hereon out. We'll just have to see.   
>  Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. If you did, why not leave a comment, or even a kudos?  
>  Till next time~


	8. Tense roomies

 Oh god this was tense. That was all that was going through your mind as you sat awkwardly across from Sans, who also sat way too stiffly in his seat. Although he, unlike you, was trying very hard to look completely at ease, as he sank into the butt crease he'd claimed as his own. He'd worked so hard to make it after all. You were surprised he hadn't licked it or something, to mark his territory. 

 Yeah. No, making jokes to yourself in your head was not making this any better. Couldn't he just watch TV? Read a book--something?! Why was he just sitting there? Why are _you_ just sitting here? Shit. Piss. Just, do something dammit! It's not that hard. Just a little closer and you can just about reach--

 "The hell are you doin'?" a gruff voice suddenly snapped, and you yanked your hand back to your chest. All thoughts of trying to grab the remote out the window. 

 Well. So much for that. 

 "Just wanted to break the silence, sheesh" you muttered, and Sans scoffed. Jesus. You really couldn't do a thing right in his eyes, huh? You could probably breathe wrong and he'd find a way to get mad at it. 

 You both settled uneasily back into a tense silence. This time though, it was Sans who blew up. 

 "Why are you always--" He made a frustrated gesture with his hands that just pointed to all of you. " _Here_?". 

 You raised a brow at that. Way to articulate skeleton boy. 'Here' told you so much. " _Here_?" you repeated, and he nodded sharply, still scowling. 

 Sensing that it was probably best to not provoke him, you chose not to go along with sassing the shit outta him. "You mean here as in home or why I exist in general". 

 "Well, while knowing the reason for such a miserable fleshbag's existence is tempting and all, I'm talking about the first one" he responded smartly. Smiling sweetly even as he insulted you right to your face. 

 "Good one, you sounded like Pap's this time" you quipped. Thoroughly enjoying the almost offended look that crossed his eyesockets. Glowing eyelights flashing red for a few seconds, before returning to a neutral, if a little agitated, white. 

 You chuckled when he opened his mouth to retort. Waving a calming hand to keep him quiet. "It's summer break at my college, I go back in September" you answered easily. Which was two weeks away now. 

 "What, no work?" the skeleton made a face. 

 "Remodeling" you shot back, and the skeleton seemed strangely satisfied with that. 

 Not at all happy though. And he threw his head back with a loud, drawn out groan. "Don't need _college_ to draw fuckin' stick men" he hissed spitefully, only to mimic your confusion when you cocked your head. What the fuck was he talking about? You might've bristled at his comment otherwise. 

 He stared at you, then waved his arms again in frustration. "Y'know--that-that art shit thing you did yesterday" he spluttered. Oh. That. He thought you were studying _art_. Now that made more sense. 

 "I study catering, not art" you corrected. "Second year, working on my professional cookery diploma now" you added shortly after. "I do commissioned work though, I already finished art school". 

 Was it just your imagination that the word 'catering' had caught his interest? No, it was definitely not just you, his brow bones had shifted just slightly--he looked... Dare you say, impressed? 

 Automatically, you'd brought up the gallery app on your phone, and out of habit, tossed it right into his lap. He jumped, probably more than he'd care to admit, but after shooting you a leery look, he carefully picked it up, and you could see him slowly scrolling through your pictures. 

 It was a habit you'd developed over time, after learning Drake seemed to enjoy looking at your works. Be they food, or art, so you'd just developed the habit of letting him have at it. You didn't mind, you liked looking at them too, to be honest, it was almost like a personal portfolio at this point. 

 God. It felt almost surreal--having such a, maybe not so comfortable, but calm discussion with Sans. Yeah, it was pretty obvious you were both very much on edge. But, you couldn't help but feel like you were making progress nonetheless. 

 "Looks like shit". 

Alright maybe not. You felt your face flush a furious red at that. You could take a lot of shit, but insulting your work--your passion? That was unacceptable. 

... No. You were better than this. Hadn't you decided to give these two a chance? He was just being piss because you'd all gotten off on the wrong foot is all. Your temper was bad on the best of days but today, you were gonna get a fucking grip. You were not a child. Even if that skeleton insisted on acting like one. 

 So. Instead of hurling the pillow in you death-grip at the skeletons self satisfied face. You forced yourself to relax. Settling back down in your seat and watching in satisfaction as the skeletons mood seemed to sour more at your refusal to rise to his bait. 

 Still. The way he was still scrolling through your gallery of masterpieces with that rapt attention. It really was quite flattering. Even despite him saying otherwise. 

 "Y'know, for a guy with a grin plastered to his face like you, you're a real grumpy ass" is what you ended up saying, pretty bluntly. You hadn't actually meant to say it out loud, but you couldn't say you were that hung up about it. As you watched the skeletons face morph into that of absolute rage that would've been comical in any other sense. Really, who gets that angry that quickly? It took the phrase 'short fuse' way too literally, to a whole new level. 

 "Fuck you ya damn fleshbag" he hissed more viciously than you'd expected, but you were still grinning. You don't know why. You caught the phone he threw straight for your head with relative ease. And it just seemed to piss him off even more. 

"Maybe in your dreams Bonehead". 

 Without warning. A flash of red, a glaring kind of colour, and suddenly there was a razor sharp, broken edge of what looked to be a femur was grazing the tips of your eyelashes. Your heart stopped and rose to your throat as you realized the skeleton had actually just threatened to skewer you. And your found yourself unable to tear your eyes away from the broken shards of bone hovering inches from your eyes. You had to quench the instinct to pull for your own magic in defense. You weren't confident yet that Sans wasn't about to act start something, or straight up murder you on the spot. 

 But you did see the skeletons expression beyond his magic. Shifting your gaze a tiny bit to encompass him into more than just your peripheral vision. He looked... Empowered, yes. That was the word. Pleased by the smell of fear that you weren't ashamed to admit must've been wafting from you like a perfume. 

 Apparently though, that fright had been all he'd wanted. And before you could even react, the bones had disappeared, dissolved into thin air like sparkly red dust. Into nothing. But still, the close call left you quivering, much as you tried to hide it. That had definitely bruised your pride to let that asshole see you tremble at his damn antics. 

 Screw being the better person--this guy was a grade- A cunt.

...but you'd already insisted to Drake that they weren't. 

 Hmm. Which was the bitterest pill? Allowing that bastard to get away with threatening to make a pincushion out of you, or swallow your pride and admit to Drake these guys really were asses?

 Who were you kidding? Drake was a spiteful sunovabitch. He'd hold this over your head for fricking weeks.

 "Only an idiot who's given up on being able to win through democracy uses physical threats to establish dominance", he raised a brow bone at that. 

"Basically speaking, I'm calling you a halfwit". 

 Any chances of a quiet or peaceful afternoon at that point was promptly thrown out the window. This time though, while you were admittedly the ultimate trigger, you were definitely pointing the finger at Sans for starting it. Like seriously--who the hell threatens people with pointy sharp things over a silly comeback? Sure Papyrus had hoisted you up by the scruff of the neck until your feet didn't touch the floor anymore, but he'd had much more of a reason. And here your thought that Papyrus was the hotter headed of the two, you're were starting to rethink that. Or maybe they were both just as bad as the other? 

 One thing was for certain. If you wanted to get on better terms with these two knuckleheads, you'd have to learn how to keep your own temper in check first. 

 "You know what Sans? I'm starting the think you just enjoy acting like a pissant--what the fuck is your problem huh?". 

 "--my fuckin' problem is us comin' to the surface just to find it fuckin' _infested_ with you meatbag _parasites_ " Sans spat, voice dangerously low like an angry feral cat hissing at--you dunno, a horse? 

 "Well at least have the decency to _keep_ it your problem then" you ended up retorting with a bit more bite than you'd intended. And you could practically feel the skeleton monster seething, that quiet afternoon that may or may not have happened simply flew away. Why did he have to act like such a twat? If he hadn't blown up over nothing then maybe you wouldn't have followed him down this rabbit hole, and you could've both still been sitting in uncomfortable companionship. 

 You huffed sharply through your nose as you sat back in your seat. Arms folded like a child having a tantrum. Really, you just didn't understand how a guy could be so... Angry at the world, all the time. Sure you weren't blind to the problems monsters faced, you can't say you'd bothered to learn much yourself. But you'd seen how the world had shifted, finally united in the sense they now had a new minority to face as a race now, the prejudice and sickening racism that had humanity divided. You knew that it must be hard to deal with, especially on top of everything else. The change of leaving their homes, the unfamiliar surroundings--stepping out into a world so much bigger than they were used too. It must be terrifying, even with the relief, and to face all that while being berated by the same people that had put them there in the first place. To find out the same mindless fear that had caused so much suffering hadn't changed in the centuries they'd been trapped in that hell hole.

 Even as you thought about it. You felt your muscles releasing in defeat. But you had a pretty strong feeling your pity would just piss the whole of monster kind off all the more. 

 Why couldn't Sans and Papyrus be more like that fire monster girl from that store? Yeah she still had that edgy kind of vibe that seemed to be the norm for monster kind. But she'd been really quite pleasant after the initial wariness, you wondered if that's how all monsters were, and if these two were just the unlucky exception. Or if maybe it went the other way around.

 Geez. You didn't have the patience to think properly about how to fix this kind of thing. Still, it made you kind of sad to think humanity was still so cruel. And it made you almost ashamed to face the two, and that shame only thickened when you added on the fact you were also a mage. What right did you have to complain about them? 

... No. You weren't your ancestors. And you weren't a monster hater. Sure you'd reacted harshly to the two when they'd first arrived--but they'd kicked the bloody door in and made arses out of themselves! No, what mattered now was what you did from here on out. That sure as hell didn't mean you were about to announce you status as a mage to the monster race, but it meant you had a bit of growing the fuck up to do. Because as tall as these two guys were, in this scenario, the bigger man will have to be you. 

 You heaved a heavy, long drawn out sigh. Before turning back to properly face Sans.

 "Look, Sans--", and that was as far as you got before a click sounded at the front door. And in came Papyrus, holding a large bag of groceries carefully balanced on one arm. 

 He scowled harder at the sight of you. In very evident disgust.

 "Don't you ever leave the house you little pest?" Was his greeting to you, but he dismissed you before you could even offer a response. No, his attention was directed no longer at you, but at Sans. And your phone still clutched in his skeletal hand. And Papyrus's already glowering eyes narrowed into furious slits. A single red iris barely visible through the cracks.

 "I see the runt and the worm have been getting quite cozy together in my absence" he mused threateningly aloud, and while you remained mostly unbothered. You practically felt Sans choke on air he didn't need. And he looked between Papyrus and your phone like a child being caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Before he hurtled it at you as though it had burned him.

 "N--nah no y-you got this all mixed up Boss--" he suddenly began splurting in panicked stuttering. His glowing red eye turned to you, "The human was uh--uhh showin' me her shit, I was poppin' shots at er see? I was givin' er shit!" he excused frantically, nodding to Papyrus and you as if trying to convince even himself. 

 Almost mercifully, Papyrus raised a single brow... And relented. Only just though. And he made a show of very deliberately stepping down. Evidently still in total control. Sans just seemed like he was fighting his kneecaps from collapsing under him. And gradually, his wheezes turned to steady breathing. But his stance still looked ready to take flight, as if he was expecting Papyrus to do a one-eighty. 

 Instead, a slow, menacing smile spread across his maw. And he set his bag down on the island table with a slight rustling sound, before turning his attention back to Sans. It was a drawn out process. And you had more than an inkling that he was doing this to keep Sans on the edge of his seat for as long as possible. There was obvious fear in the smaller monsters submissive posture, and Papyrus seemed to be reveling in inflicting that upon him. 

Bastard. 

 Still. This was a good chance to get in the Cheshire Cat's good books. 

 "Yeah, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't nick my personal items to taunt me with in the future, Bone-boy" you said as you rubbed the spot on your nose where the phone had landed.

 You saw in your peripherals that Sans shot you an uncertain look, but you were more focused on gauging his pals reaction. Fortunately, he seemed almost... Proud. Nah, that was too generous a word. Smug. That's what it was. 

 You only realized your mistake when you felt the rooms attention shift instead onto you. 

 "Oh?" Papyrus inquired. And Sans all but jumped at the chance to earn some brownie points. 

 "Y-yeah, took'er phone 'n' found a bunch'a shitty pics of food" he practically gloated, seeming to gain confidence at Papyrus's approving gaze. "Nothin' compared to you B-boss, 'course, you're the g-greatest" he finished pathetically, but even moreso was the way Mr Ego simpered under the false praise. The praise he'd all but demanded, like some kinda drama-queen bitch with an entitlement problem, only with less blackmailing and much more violence. 

 "NYEHEHAHA!", Papyrus took a dominating step forwards, and you begun to feel the nagging sensation of being suddenly surrounded. Both from skeletons now feeding off one another as they turned away from the others throats, and onto one of common enemy.

 "AS ONE WOULD EXPECT OF SUCH A PATHETIC WHELP OF A CREATURE" Papyrus preened, nodding sagely as Sans finally seemed to sink back into the couch. The crosshairs now completely off of him. And no firmly latched onto you.

 You felt your eye twitch as you sat there, allowing these two assholes to walk all over your passion. Everything in you wanted to retaliate, so much so that it physically strained you to keep your trap shut.

 "Y-yeah Boss, no _human_ could compare to someone as awesome as you" Sans continued to coo in a relaxed kind of lull, and the grin on Paps's face only widened. Only to grimace for a moment, and Sans made quick work if correcting himself, "I-I mean--nobody could ever match you-- 'specially not some weak ass human".

 Weak, huh? Coming from the guy who was cowering from his friend? Yeah. Last time you threw numskull a bone...okay, that was poor choice of wording. Or was it? 

 Either way, someone was unfortunately still smacking his chops. 

 "INDEED" the monster egoist (Who apparently shares an interest in cooking, or just regards himself has superior in every sense of the word), agreed grandly, what with his chest all puffed out and arms folded as you mentally fought the inside battle of sticking to your resolve. Only it was hard. Very hard. You were hot-headed by nature-- so not snapping back when you felt very under attack left you a stiff, manic looking mess. A crooked, too wide smile on your face as you restrained yourself and your vocal chords from giving those two a real piece of your mind. Why did they even feel the need for this bullshit anyway? You got their whole hatred of humans, you really did. Humans in general had treated monster kind like piss, both before and after they'd been forced underground. But why the such actively aggressive behavior? Why couldn't they just walk around and ignore you with relative indifference like any other normal person?

 With a small voice, and not knowing whether or not if it was the wisest decision, you decided to speak up. "Do you guys mind not slagging off my cooking? I work very hard on my studies" you interrupted quietly, knowing you were probably only giving them more ammunition. "It's an art and I get we don't get along, but I wouldn't discredit your passions, even just to piss you off", you paused, the two skeletons had gone quiet. Listening, but with less than enthused minutes on their faces. "So please don't diss mine" you finished evenly.

 Before either of them could respond, you fled to the upstairs haven of your room. Clutching your phone an gallery of treasures to your chest. Feeling a lot more hurt than you probably should have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this to procrastinate on finishing my assignment that is due Wednesday. Plus this chapter was a bit late anyway. Sorry about that. But hey, it's here now!  
>  So Sans and Papy made even worse pissants of themselves huh? Ironically, it's the monsters in this house that are the racists. I wonder what will happen when our girl Karina finally points that out? Probably a violence.  
>  Anyway, I better get to work if I want that distinction. Finally got my synoptics done too--not to toot my own horn or anything--but imma toot it, distinction grade~I'm so proud. Next step: patisserie course and then UTTER WORLD DOMINATIOOOONNNNN.  
>  Welp, enough tootin', thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Maybe leave a comment to let me know what you thought?  
>  Till next time~  
> (P.S. shout out to a pal called Midnight--thanks so much for all your continued support!)


End file.
